Open [The Sapphire Star] A Party Like No Other

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 43rd of Winter, 513 AV

Kavala had made all the arrangements. It hadn't been hard to do being basically confined to home caring for an ill infant and one that was more precocial than he should have been. While she'd been slowly gaining strength, caring for Ia'del, and Ralac, and herself... there had been lots of time to plan and even work on the ice rink. One of the things she really wanted to do for Sybel was to let her know how welcome she was into the Denusk Family. Bachelorette and pre-wedding parties were common among the Drykas, and Kavala wanted to make sure Sybel had one thrown for her. She could have opted for something quiet among friends at The Sanctuary, but instead Kavala had gone another route.

The Konti hadn't ever had a party thrown for herself, so she did something that she thought she'd like things had been different in her life and she'd been accepted into a new Pavilion as a first wife. Because, truthfully, that's what Sybel was becoming. First wife, high ranking among the pavilion, and having an ear lent to the Ankal because of her position in his household. Sybel had the good graces to be born human - though some would say Benshira was a negative - and that meant she could give birth to Vanator's heirs. That meant the human line of Denusk Drykas' would carry on through her. There were already kelvic and Akontak Drykas' and even one small Konti infant as well. But there had been no replacement humans, no children running afoot that could step on the Sea of Grass and say 'This is my legacy.'.

Now there would be.

So because of that, Kavala knew it merited a large party... the bigger the better. And she'd gone all out. With Carla Heshin's help, Kavala had rented out the Sapphire Star - a woman's club in Riverfall - and had arranged for catering and all the booze the ladies of Riverfall could drink. She'd also planned games, a gifting for Sybel, and some entertainment for everyone. The facility itself was cleaned and decorated from head to toe in blue which was one of Sybel's favorite colors. There were waiters everywhere, all shirtless, holding trays of sweets and an elegant Eth, also shirtless, was manning the bar.

Women from all over Riverfall were invited to come in, mingle, eat and drink to their delight and participate in some of the games if they liked. Later in the day, towards evening, there was entertainment scheduled, though Kavala had hired a bard or two so that there would be music all night quietly in the background for when the entertainment wasn't happening.

Kavala hoped the party would go over well and had arrived early to get the games situated, the gifting table set up, and to make sure all was going smoothly. At the thirteenth bell, women should start arriving. Kavala hoped there was a fantastic turnout.

[Juriya]

It was true, Juriya did not know pretty much anyone in the city at the moment, but she had been working on socializing more, and what better way than a bachelorette party? At least there would be just women, though, sometimes it seemed that did not matter. Regardless, she had mustered up the courage to come and had even brought a gift she was told was good, especially for someone you didn't know well. The Kelvic nervously entered the premise with the bottle of Bluevein Sapphire Wine in hand. The Akontak bouncer made her a little edgy, but the blue female did not pay the Kelvic any mind, probably because she was obviously not a male trying to sneak in. She felt a little awkward tonight, though. She had just bought herself a new dress, one of fine wool dyed a color to match her eyes, but it was nothing fancy. Just a normal looking calf-length dress with thin twisted straps. She continued to pull the hem down and the neck up, as she felt it was showing too much of her collar bones off. It was almost amusing how uncomfortable she felt showing off parts of herself when she really had little issue dropping her clothes near anywhere to shift. Modesty may not have been in her DNA, but she just seemed to dislike the idea of showing off her gender or her sexuality. But that was besides the point, there would be no men here, just woman, so that would not be an issue. Slowly the Kelvic made her way into the Sapphire Star, glancing around, it seemed she had come before the party had begun full swing, which made the socially awkward woman a little more nervous. Juriya swallowed, trying to push her nerves down and made her way to what she assumed was the gift table. She kept her head down and her movements slow and methodical, trying not to draw attention to herself as she slowly placed the bottle of Wine on the table next to a few things already there. Her lip twitched up into a half smile as she looked at the simple bottle of wine. Luckily she'd managed to drown her pride and ask the Akalak she'd bought it from to put a nice little tag on it, addressed to the Bride to be. Once she was done appreciating her most recent attempt at making nice with people and to socialize she promptly attempted to flee the table and find a quiet corner to lurk in, observing the women as they arrived and began mingling among one another. She only hoped she would be able to quietly converse with one or two ladies, that would be enough for her to feel she had successfully not behaved like an animal. For the moment she seemed perfectly happy to observe and eavesdrop.

[Sybel]

Sybel was in awe.

She’d told Kavala about a hundred times that there was no need to make a big deal of her bachelorette party. After all, could’ve had a great time simply being with her best friend. Oh, and renting out some male strippers too, of course. But the woman saw this as an opportunity and as such, decided to make the most of it. Thus, it was in incredulity that she walked in, the whole place having been made into her personal paradise.

Now the only thing missing was…

She couldn’t believe it. Kavala had plucked the jesting thought right from her mind. Behind the bar stood none other than Caelum, shirtless, looking highly uncomfortable. As they made eye contact, she choked back laughter, though he’d undoubtedly sense her strong desire to laugh anyway. Kavala Denusk could take over the world if she really wanted to. She had the gift of persuasion, among many, many other things.

Immediately, she sought the woman out. It seemed people were already slowly arriving; she caught the eye of an amber-eyed woman and smiled, briefly admiring her dress. She didn’t really recognize her, but that didn’t matter. She would greet her warmly, anyway. But first thing was first. She had to thank the gorgeous hostess about a thousand times over.

When she finally found her, she immediately moved to envelop her in a hug. ”You!” She cried, throat tightening around the word. ”Thank you, sister. You’ve given me a priceless gift.” Which was her absolutely explicit approval of the marriage, as well as many other things, chief among them her simply being there and being alive. Sybel had clung to the hope she was somewhere out there. But this life… It was better than she could have dreamed.

When she finally stood back, she cast an eye over the Konti. ”You look good,” she continued admiringly. Which was true, though she also looked tired. But Sybel didn’t need to remind her of that; those day and nights spent caring for her newborn children had worn her, though not so much that she could’ve find the energy to keep moving. In fact, she still had a beautiful flush in her cheeks and a warm twinkle in her cerulean eyes. It heartened the Benshira. They’d be having some fun, tonight.

”So,” she trailed, smirking. ”You got Caelum to bartend shirtless?”

[Caelum]

It had taken a great deal of pretty persuasion and big blue eyes to convince Caelum to play jack-of-all-trades (the most important of which was undoubtedly serving drinks) at Sybel’s bachelorette party. It took even more massive amounts of pleading to convince him to do it shirtless. Caelum negotiated out the chunk of gold tossed into the mix and then slumped off looking hen pecked and resigned. It was all totally an act. Okay, so he thought the shirtless part was pretty cheesy, but it didn’t actually bother him. He was in good shape with hard, lean muscle after all. It wasn’t the sheer bounty of beefy strength offered by most Akalak, but again Caelum wasn’t bothered by that. He wore his favorite pair of leather riding pants, boots, and the salt weathered but bright scarf gifted him by an Otani tied like a belt or, perhaps, a pirate’s sash. He secretly liked the idea of a pirate’s sash. After all, he had spent a few years aboard such a sloop what seemed now like ages ago, so he had a particular fondness. The real beauty of his (secret) pirate sash was the fact that it hid the wine colored chains of Nikali’s gnosis mark where they slipped out of the waistband of his trousers and curled over his left hip. The majority of the mark was hidden by his pants, but he didn’t even want that small piece of it to be visible. The last thing he needed was questions regarding it, or worse, someone recognizing it for what it was. Whenever Kavala glanced his way while they were setting up for the party, Caelum gave her large, sad eyes. He thought it was particularly effective right up until he caught her laughing at him behind her hand. A smirk sharpened on his mouth and he gave up on shooting her kicked puppy looks and went about setting up the bar. That was what he was really here for. Oh, he was here for Sybel and for Kavala too. But they didn’t actually need him to bartend and, thanks to his ranuri, he knew that with resounding clarity. He had come to learn his way around a bar, gathering up all the information he needed to file it in with the rest of the data he had been assimilating toward the opening of a tavern in the city. Before the party began he polished bottles of wine and specialty liquors and adjusted the set up of the kegs of ale for easiest access. He studied the available glassware and referenced the short instruction sheet provided him by the proprietor to ascertain what drinks belonged in what glasses when it was not obvious. He also double checked that the medical kit he had prepared and brought was stored safely under the bar, out of sight but also easy to snatch should the need arise. Of course, he wasn’t planning on having to use his physician skills tonight, but, hey, women were crazy and he wasn’t taking any chances. By the time the first guests slipped in, he was ready with his quiet smile and a drink. Curious eyes tilted toward the young woman who had tucked herself in the corner by his bar, and he watched Sybel walk in and laugh at him. Promptly, he gave her big, sad eyes. And she still laughed at him. He sighed and shot her a smirk.

[Faryon Whiteflower]

Faryon had a hard time finding the Sapphire Star, and chastised herself for not asking someone directions beforehand knowing of her horrible sense of direction. All that mattered now was she and her gift had arrived in one piece. The Akontak bouncer barely paid her any mind as the Drykas crossed the threshold. The teen had rushed all day yesterday to find a dress for the party and what seemed even longer to procure a gift for the bride to be. Faryon had chosen a halter cream colored dress that cut off slightly above her knees. It didn't cling to her body tightly but just enough to show off her slight curves. Faryon couldn't quite call Sybel her friend but she did think highly of the women almost as much as the teen saw Kavala. Despite this she hoped the Benshira would like her little gift basket of scented bath salts, cute little vanity soaps and various other cosmetic goodies. Looking around, the Drykas spotted the table set up for the gifts and left it there. Now that she was here, Faryon was unsure what to do exactly. There was a few people in the Sapphire Star already. Glancing around, the teen noticed a familiar face at the bar. However she wasn't expecting Caelum to be here, and especially naked. Faryon had to try hard not to giggle at the sight but it was slowly turning into a losing battle. She had to turn away and head in another direction to cease the giggle fit. Will have to pop over there and say hello to him at some point tonight The Drykas was going to say hello to Sybel and Kavala who were across the room conversing amongst themselves but something caught Faryon's eye off in a corner. Faryon sometimes had the nasty habit of staring, especially when something caught her fancy and peaked her curiosity. A girl was off standing by herself looking incredibly uncomfortable. It was hard to tell due to the softer lighting in that part of the room, but she looked to be about her height and frame. Her hair was a pretty mixture of what Faryon thought reminded her of honey and chocolate. Since everyone else seemed busy at the moment, it never hurt to say hello. Making her way to the other girl, she tried not to seem creepy or anything. "Hello." Faryon said once she reached the other girl, offering a smile in the process.

[Chandray]

The house was smaller than she had expected. It seemed nice and inviting though, with the warm light from the windows facing the street, and the low sound of voices and laughter…but Chandray stayed for a few chimes in the bitter cold of the winter and looked out over the Bluevein and the frozen city. It was a beautiful sight. Entering the house, she came to a coatroom. There was a woman in the room, tall and bulky just like the akalak men. Dark skin, hair white as snow and eyes pale as ice. The contrasts were amazing. Chandray had never seen an akontak before, but she had heard about them and realized this must be one of those rare people. The akontak woman didn’t smile, but she offered to take Chandray’s cloak. Chandray was however not keen on parting from the garment. The dark brown wool cape had been a necessary addition to her winter wardrobe, and she had paid a bit more for it than she had planned. She shook her head. “I’ll keep it with me. I’m not a guest. I’m here to play.” She had been carrying the fiddle and fiddlestick under the cloak in order to protect them from the cold, but now she took them out and pushed the cloak back over her shoulders. She wore her usual winter clothes, brown pants and pale red shirt, knee high dark brown leather boots. She had considered leaving the rapier at home, but finally decided to fasten it at the belt as usual. After work she would walk home alone, and though Riverfall was a relatively peaceful place she would feel more comfortable if she was armed. And it wouldn’t matter to the party guests what the fiddler was wearing. The akontak woman pointed at the rapier. “You need to leave it here. “ She held her hand out. Chandray tried to convince her that she certainly didn’t plan to make trouble or use the weapon on the party guests. She even made a joke about herself only being a woman, but the akontak seemed totally void of humor and not even a shadow of a smile could be seen on her stern face. “Leave it here. If you want me to let you in, you leave the rapier here. And don’t tell me silly tales about a woman with a rapier not being able to be dangerous. You could perhaps fool a man, but you can’t fool a woman.” Reluctantly she left the rapier to the akontak and after this she was allowed to pass into the lounge area beyond. Chandray stopped right inside the door in order to watch and get an overview of the room and it’s facilities, the people there and what was going on. The room was surprisingly spacious. Through the wide windows she could see the beautiful sight of the city just like when she had been standing outside. It was the same sight, but turned inside out, she thought. The cold winter outside seemed distant now, where she stood inside the warmth and light and listened to the guests. Subtle lighting gave the interior a soft feeling, with plush cushions and rich colors. The room was decorated in blue, blue, blue. It felt like being at sea, or even like being in an underwater world in a dream, she thought. Amazing. The guests were all women, all at their best, well dressed, cheery. She watched them for a while. A very pale and gorgeous blonde and a somewhat tanned and very happy woman with chestnut brown hair caught her attention at once. The brunette was loudly announcing that she had been given a wonderful gift. This unbound happiness in her voice made Chandray smile. The blonde and her brunette friend seemed perfectly confident and at ease, she noticed. But a few somewhat shyer looking guests seemed to be lurking in the periphery and turning to each other for support and company. She continued to look around curiously. In the center of the room she could see a section screened off on all sides. She had heard that when male musicians were playing in this place they used to be hidden behind screens, not allowed to socialize. So if she had expected that the women would be partying with each other, and if there were any men present they would be stoved away behind screens, invisible and out of range for flirt and fun. To Chandray this was actually a quite weird idea of fun, to be honest…but obviously the things she had heard wasn’t totally true. There were waiters everywhere, all of them shirtless even, holding trays of sweets. The guests seemed to be mingling and striking up conversations with each other the way people use to do at parties. Not being a guest, Chandray looked around for other staff people to join while she was waiting for the party go get off the ground. The waiters were busy walking around with their trays. Only the barkeep seemed to be free. Her gaze stopped on him. He had…horns. One of the horned ones. An ethaefal. He was shirtless like the waiters and Chandray noticed the pirate sash. But while the waiters seemed to be alright with their scant attire where they moved around conficently...the barkeep looked sad, like he was sad to part of the decorations , eye candy for an evening, at a bachelorette party. Intrigued, she wondered why he was there. Well, the sad looking and exotic barkeep seemed to be the only one not speaking with somebody or walking around with trays. Chandray sauntered over to the bar, the fiddle in her left hand and the fiddlestick in the right. She smiled tentatively at the horned man, sent him a carelessly flirtatious wink and greeted him with a cheery salute with the fiddlestick. She was hoping for a free drink. If he wanted to speak she would speak a bit with him, otherwise she was going to sit down on one of the cushions in the room and start to tune the fiddle.

[Stefan]

Playing his old mandolin, and reciting a poem, Stefan served as one of the musicians of the party. The deal was great: he would have to be the bard, keep the ladies happy, take request, and he could drink all he wanted and take as many breaks as he liked. On top of that, he would make good coin, and if he was lucky, he could find company for the night. A great deal, indeed. When he was told in the Velvet Curtain about the event, he accepted on a heartbeat.

He came at the party shirtless, carrying only his boots, cloak, pants and mandolin. He was freezing cold, and was hoping to reach the house soon. He could barely pass through the Akontak bouncer, who looked at him like it was a joke. He tried to convince her to let him pass, and failed. He tried to sneak on her, and of course failed. Then he tried to seduce her... and ended up punched in the stomach. Only when he finally showed the invitation, she allowed him to pass. Murmuring something to himself, he entered, still with his cloak on.

Being inside of the house was a nice change. It was quite warm, and full of beautiful women, celebrating with alcohol and almost nude men. It was the kind of place Stefan loved. He rushed to the bar, drank a couple of glasses of wine, and began playing to a group of women, and sung some improvised songs.

Oh ladies, oh ladies, this bard can see
How you're enjoying yourselves in this evening
Now ladies, now ladies, listen to me
Let's all celebrate the bride to be

So, he was already shirtless, and though he did not have a great body, he was far from unatractive. In fact, he not only was shirtless, he was also pantless, using his dark blue cloak as a makeshift tunic. He did not minded the cold; the wine helped to keep him warm. Also, the wine was probably the reason he has lost his pants. He didn't cared about that, either. The ladies liked it, and that is what mattered. As he played his mandolin and recited songs of love, enjoyment and lust, he gave free winks of eyes and flirtatious smiles.

After thirty chimes of songs, Stefan stoped playing his old mandolin, and came took a glass of red wine.

"Ahh, Riverfall wine... one of my favorite things about this place." He said to himself, leaning on the bar. As he looked at the human winking at the Ethaefal. "Not bad, you hace a good taste..." he comented casually, sipping his wine "So... when are you going to play, dear? I'll like to know if the music is as georgeous as the one playing it". He smiled at the human.

[Caelum]

Caelum met Faryon's eyes across the room and his smirk sharpened beautifully. The humor on her face was clear and he gave her a dramatic roll of his eyes before she turned toward the pretty, quiet girl lurking in the corner near his bar. Returning his attention to the bottles, he gave one of thick, green glass an absent swipe and pulled out a shining wine goblet. The party was just beginning, but already there were women wandering into the Sapphire Star in a gentle roll of laughter and conversation. He served a pair of them with glasses of the rich, sweet wine and when he lifted his eyes it was to discover a musician with grey-blue eyes gifting him a smile. He answered with a smile of his own, crinkling the corners of golden eyes, and reached for another glass. When the male musician arrived, he lifted a second glass and put them on the bar side by side. He said nothing, not wishing to interrupt, but a hint of humor lingered in the line of his mouth as he popped the cork out of the bottle and poured. “There you are,” he said, placing the wine in front of them. It was free, of course, having already been paid for and provided by the party’s host Kavala.

[Chandray]

Chandray smiled and took her glass of red wine. “I’m going to play as soon as I’m ready with the tuning.” She left the bar and went to sit on a free cushion, taking a professional view on the event. She put the wine on a table nearby and started to tune the fiddle. She guessed the mandolin player would stay at the bar and entertain the bartender with a few fun stories and ask for more wine…he looked just like the kind of man who would spend more time hanging out at the bar than playing. She was there to work and not to socialize and she would remember this and just do her job. Chandray was pretty well behaved when she was at work and kept a distance to the people she was playing for. She didn't want this to be the only job she got in Riverfall, so she had a reputation to think of. Whatever the party guests would do, she wasn't going to take part in anything that could give her a bad reputation and make it hard to get new assigments. Like in all celebrations people were there to meet each other and be with their good old friends, have a good time together. So she would respect this and stay in the background, focus on playing her music and make occasional observations. It could be interesting to just study the local customs and learn more about how it was in Riverfall. She was still a stranger in the city and she found it best to watch and try to understand the culture in order to avoid doing anything that could be seen as offensive. When she was done with the tuning she started playing. She leaned the fiddle on her shoulder and kept it in place with her chin, shut her eyes and started to move her fingertips and the fiddlestick over the strings. She played a calm and simple tune, the kind of tune that would add a nice and soft sound of music to the party, without disturbing the conversations. She forgot the surroundings. In her mind memories started dancing to the tune, pictures, other songs, vague feelings and a touch of something else, invisible. Other places, other times, other people, other tunes. For the rest of the party people would now and then hear her play a bit in the background. OOCI have less time than I had counted on, so I'll respond now despite how it's no my turn, just so nobody needs to be stuck on waiting for my PC to respond. Please feel free to just skip over me for time being. Until I post again my PC can be assumed sitting on a cushion and playing her fiddle.

[Juriya]

As people continued to arrive Juriya remained nestled into her little corner. Her amber eyes just scanned the room as she observed the others interacting with themselves. She glanced in the direction of the bartender as he noticed her, but she remained quiet and simply offered a somewhat awkward attempt at a smile before looking away. The thought had crossed her mind of ordering a drink, but, she was unsure of how well she could handle alcohol, being her experiences with the liquid was next to nil she thought better not chance it at someone else's party. When a woman made her way towards Juriya and greeted her warmly Juriya was a bit shocked. The concept of approaching a total stranger, willingly, eluded the Kelvic completely, and she felt a bit of envy towards this girl who seemed to so easily say hello. Juriya sat up a little straighter and put on a slight smile as she nodded and spoke a "Hello" back. What good would it do to be rude? Besides, she came here to interact, not sit in a corner. Perhaps this could be a good learning experience for her. As the Kelvic looked at this girl before her she began to notice little details about her features as her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting. Her eyes looked to be an interesting and soothing grey, though they could have been a soft blue too, the light was not great, afterall. But more than that, the girl had a mark on her forehead. Juriya could only assume it was a tattoo or maybe one of those marks that people got from the Gods, (she could never remember what they were called or even which ones meant what.) Juriya quickly caught herself staring intently at the mark on the girls forehead before blinking and moving her eyes elsewhere, feeling like she was being rude by staring. "I'm Juriya." She offered, trying not to be too awkward.